Whether you’re a novice or a professional in the field of woodworking, you’ll know that it takes more than skills and creativity to come up with neat and impressive output for your hobby or business. You need a high-quality wood router that can provide you with excellent cutting operations on projects that are based on different types of materials. But what makes a good router “good”? We say it’s the small things that make great things “great”; in this case, we’re talking about the router bits.
This article will provide you with the general information you need to know about bits; these details are significant, especially if you’re just getting started in woodcraft. Specifically, we’re going to talk about round-over bits. Towards the end of the article, we’ll recommend router bits for rounding edges; if you’re new to the crafting scene or you want to learn more about the wonders of wood routers, you’re on the right page, and you’re reading the right article.
What are the Most Commonly Used Types of Router Bits?
As mentioned, router bits play a vital role in making a wood router perform optimal cutting operations. The bits are responsible for shaping your medium to your desired output, so it’s really important that you know your way around these small attachments.
The thing, though, is that there are lots of kinds of router bits; if you’re a newcomer to the hobby, you might be confused as to which one you need to use for which type of project. Below, we’re going to discuss the most common bits that woodworkers use. For best bit brand suggestions, click here.
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Straight Router Bits
This type is also known as the most common bit used by workers. This allows you to create straight and simple cuts with ease. A straight bit can also be used on hollowing applications on your material. These bits come in 3/16 inch to 1.5-inch diameters, and each size corresponds to a specific requirement.
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Rabbeting Router Bits
This type of bit lessens your need to buy different routers to cater to your project that needs edge-cutting. This bit allows you to cut materials on a vertical or a horizontal spot. Rabbeting Router bits typically come with varying diameter sizes of ball bearings.
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Flush Trim Router Bits
If you’re working on a task that requires lots of identical shapes and cutting styles, you should consider having this. It comes with a ball bearing with the same size as this very bit, making it efficient in edging and trimming multiple pieces of the same design.
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Chamfer Router Bits
On the other hand, if your project needs decorative edge trimming on doors and panels. You can use this type of router bit when you’re trying to make bevel cuts.
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Edge Forming Router Bits
Another type of bit that allows you to make a variety of decorative edging styles is the edge-forming bit. Under this kind, you have the Roundover bits, Cove routing bits, and Ogee bits. The Roundover bits are mainly used for trimming rounded edges; the Cove routing bits are for concave circle patterns; the Ogee bits are used when you want to perform an S-shaped cutting pattern.
How to Determine Which Bit Size is Right
Buying the correct router bit is already a challenge, considering the number of available bits in the market from various manufacturers; however, the fact that each router bit has a different purpose in each size makes purchasing it even harder. But worry not, because the following information we have can serve as your buying guide.
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Shank Diameter
Typically, a wood router has collets of ¼-inch and ½-inch. Take a look at your router and check for the collet sizes it offers because some units only have ¼-inch shank. We recommend that you use ½-inch shank bits as it provides soft cutting action and prolonged usage.
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Material
Most router bits have carbide tips, and others have high-speed steel cutting tip. The ones with carbide are much more preferred because it’s stiffer when used, compared to the bits with high-speed steel cutting edge. When you are using this kind, though, you need to pay attention to its handling and storage.
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Quality
Last but not least, you have to look into a router bit’s quality. Pick the ones with fine edge that can lessen the tendency of material damage as you work on your project. Durability and work convenience are also a factor to consider when checking a unit’s quality. Additionally, make sure that your bits match the type of work you’re dealing with.
Product Review
In this section, we’re going to talk about our recommendations for roundover bits. If you’re on the lookout for this type of bits, we know you might want to check these out:
Our first pick in the list is this rounding over bit model from Freud. For $27.38, you get a bit with the following dimensions: 1-1/8-inch overall diameter, 5/8-inch bearing diameter, Carbide height of ½-inch, a radius of ¼-inch, and shank diameter of ¼-inch. According to the manufacturer, this bit comes with special features from Freud like TiCo Hi-Density Carbide and red Perma-SHIELD non-stick coating; this guarantees that you can use this item for your projects in a long time. This rounding over bit also has a quadra-cut design with two cutters positioned upward and two smaller cutters that cut downward. The overall design of the bit allows you to work on your material with ease and no rework needed. You can use this rounding over bit with handheld or table-mounted wood routers on different types of medium, including softwoods, plywoods, and hardwoods.
The second and last product we have to recommend you is this roundover bit set from Taisher. The $14.99 pack from Amazon contains four pieces of ¼-inch shank with different radius: ½”, 3/8″, ¼”, and 1/8″. Each bit is made of micro-grain tungsten carbide to provide you efficient trimming while maintaining its durability to withstand usage wear. The bits can also be used as a traditional straight router bit when you use it without the bearing. Additionally, if you want to have improved visibility on your piece, you should use a shank bearing flush trim bit on your handheld wood router.
The Taisher roundover bits definitely allow you to cater to a broader range of woodworking projects. You can use the pack to cut on materials, such as plywoods, softwoods, and hardwoods.
Conclusion
If you’ve been searching for a router bit for rounding edges, this article should serve as your guide to buying one. The products we’ve mentioned are guaranteed to help you produce clean cut edges on your output.